Innovation at Boston Children’s Hospital

Great changes happen when people see problems and unmet needs and challenge the status quo to solve them. Great ideas come from all over the Boston Children’s Hospital community — from surgeons to nurses to administrators.

Boston Children’s has worked to create a culture and infrastructure to nurture innovations, commercialize them, share them with patients and introduce them into clinical practice.

Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator (IDHA)

IDHA is addressing the unmet needs of patients/families, clinicians, and health systems across the enterprise and around the globe though digital health. The accelerator grant program helps researchers, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and technologists both within and outside of Boston Children’s Hospital accelerate market-competitive technologies for scalable impact. The IDHA team and its industry partners provide expertise in software development, business planning, data analytics and lean startup practices.

Technology & Innovation Development Office (TIDO)

TIDO’s mission is to translate the laboratory and clinical research excellence of Boston Children's Hospital into products for the public benefit. TIDO uses a multi-faceted approach to promote, support and develop research, technology and clinical innovations through the protection and licensing of intellectual property, investing in Boston Children's technologies, and establishing strong research and development partnerships with industry throughout the innovation-to-product life cycle.

Digital Health Offerings

Online Second Opinion

Our Online Second Opinion service utilizes experts at Boston Children’s to evaluate a child’s care plan. During 2016-2017, 20 percent of all second opinions resulted in a change in diagnosis, and over 60 percent led to some change in recommended treatment. This service is available to families around the globe.

Precision Medicine Service

Our Precision Medicine Service provides a front door for patients to access genetic expertise with a goal of helping patients and their families receive an earlier diagnosis and better understand their condition, identify best available treatment options, and get the best care for their condition.

Virtual Visits

Boston Children's Hospital has been named the #1 children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News and World Report for the fifth year in a row! It's an honor that we could not have achieved without you. On behalf of every member of our Boston Children's team, thank you for inspiring us to be bolder, dream bigger, and make the impossible possible for our patients and families.